Yuuki November 1, 2012, 01:15:30

I graduated from the Independent Living Program in sprnig 2007. This was a time when Eric was slowly easing out of the wood working and fencing programs. After somebody told me he was over 80, I was amazed. He seemed like a young 60, with more energy and life in him than most people half his age. I admit that I was not his most stellar fencing student. I thoroughly enjoyed the fencing classes, but I will always remember his pleadings to move “more to the left! More to the left!” I could never exactly find my opponent. Yet Eric taught me something much much more important than how to fence or improve My mobility skills by flicking around that skinny little sword. Fencing class was my very first exposure to the whole notion that blind people could derive joy from activities that sighted people assumed we had no business enjoying. Since leaving the Carroll Center, I have taken up sailing in the great outdoor enrichment program in Boston Harbor. I have gone skiing, rock climbing and regularly visit the Museum of Fine Arts where I love “seeing” paintings as much as or more than I did when I could see in the conventional sense of the word. I will continue many of these activities for as long as my legs can carry me to them. I may never do fencing again. But I will always be grateful to the person who first introduced me to the strange and wonderful idea that you don’t need eyes to enjoy such supposedly “visual” activities. It’s been a critical factor in rebuilding my life and restoring my happiness. I don’t know very many of the hundreds, or even thousands, of visually impaired people who Eric touched over the years. But I know enough of them to know that my experience with Eric is not an isolated one and that many people who had the good fortune to be taught by him possess fond memories and will miss him a great deal. Thank you Eric and one last Touche!